News Archives
April 10, 2008
UAW Casino Workers Fight for Right to Organize and Negotiate Fair Union Contracts
ATLANTIC CITY - Hundreds of UAW members from Atlantic City casinos attended last night's City Council meeting to support an ordinance guaranteeing that all city casinos are 100 percent smoke-free. As the Press of Atlantic City reports, City Council members unanimously supported the Casino workers' message that they should not be forced to breathe secondhand smoke at work.
"I have seen pregnant women forced to work in the smoking areas," said Terry Shindel, a veteran Caesars dealer who suffers chronic respiratory problems. "My co-workers are suffering in this environment and it's not fair. Workers in the casinos have been treated as second-class citizens with regard to our health. We were left out of the last ordinance and we deserve equal protection."
Atlantic City Council members also passed a resolution supporting Atlantic City dealers and slot technicians’ rights to organize and negotiate fair union contracts. The Council unanimously called “on all casinos in Atlantic City to stop treating gaming workers as second-class citizens, to negotiate fair contracts, and to join us in improving our community.”
Next Wednesday, April 16, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, Atlantic Cape May Central Labor Council, elected officials, union members, interfaith leaders and community activists will join casino workers in Atlantic City, who are fighting for their basic right to organize with the United Auto Workers, for a press conference in the Mayor’s Office. Despite overwhelming votes by workers in favor of forming a union, casino management continues to stall and delay to avoid granting workers a voice at work.